A number of electronic learning appliances exist to help a user learn about a particular subject. In one conventional electronic learning appliance, the device randomly requests a response from the user, such as how to spell a particular word. The user then inputs a response into an input device, such as a keyboard. The device then tells the user if the response is correct.
A problem with this type of device is that the device typically includes subject matter having only a single level of intellectual difficulty. While a device having a single level of intellectual difficulty may be effective in maintaining the attention span of a child possessing a corresponding level of intelligence, it has been found that this type of device is not as effective in maintaining the attention span of children having higher or lower levels of intelligence. For example, a child with a lower level of intelligence than the intellectual level provided by a learning appliance of this type would become easily frustrated by the difficulty of the questions provided by the device. Likewise, a child having a higher level of intelligence than the intellectual level provided by the device would become bored with the device because the questions are too easy.
Some have attempted to solve this problem by providing an electronic learning appliance that, after receiving responses from the user, automatically adjusts the level of difficulty to the user's level of intelligence. The device operates to lower the level of difficulty of the requests when the user responds inappropriately, and further operates to increase the level of difficulty when the user responds appropriately. The device maintains a level of difficulty, and then raises or lowers the level of difficulty to maintain the attention of the user.
While an electronic learning appliance such as this one is effective in some instances, a number of improvements could be made. For example, the educational content included in the learning appliances mentioned above is limited. Even if an electronic learning appliance is capable of adjusting its level of difficulty to the user's level of intelligence, the user will have interacted with all of the educational content in the electronic learning appliance at some point. For example, an educational toy may include specific educational content that is pre stored on a ROM (read only memory) chip within the toy. The chip contains only a limited amount of audio and/or visual data and the visual and audio outputs that the toy can produce are therefore limited. The user may learn the correct answers to a specific set of questions without having mastered the general principles representative of a level of learning. After the user has interacted with all of the available content, the user will become bored and will no longer be interested in using the device. This may also frustrate parents who may buy the toy only to see their children not use the toy. The user will then have to purchase another learning appliance with different electronic content. Even if another learning appliance is available, this option is costly to the user.
In an effort to alleviate the cost of buying a new device, some conventional solutions provide new content for an educational toy by reprogramming a memory chip used in a toy with new audio and visual data from an external source. For example, one conventional Web site allowed users to download new audio data for toys to change the content of the toys. Separate links were provided for each of the separate toys. When a link for a particular toy was selected, the audio data could be downloaded and then used in a person's toy.
Moreover, the user can easily become disinterested in the learning appliance if the electronic content is not specifically suited for the user's needs or preferences. For example, if a learning appliance is intended to teach math to a user by providing problems relating to cooking (e.g., if 6 teaspoons of sugar are added to a cake mixture, how many tablespoons of sugar are added to the cake mixture?), those users who are not interested cooking-related math problems may not be interested in using the device.
In another example, a user may have mastered multiplication, addition, and subtraction, but may have had trouble mastering division. The educational benefit derived by the user may be limited if the device provides an equal number of problems in each of these subject areas. In other words, if the device provides too many problems in those subjects where the user is proficient and not enough problems in those subjects where the user is deficient, the educational benefit obtained by the user may not be adequate to help the user quickly overcome his learning deficiencies (e.g., in division).
Furthermore, when the users are children, adults such as parents and teachers cannot monitor the child's progress when the child uses conventional learning appliances. Information regarding the child's interaction with the device is not stored. Consequently, adults may be unaware of the child's learning difficulties and the child may not receive the needed guidance from adults to assist the child in learning. Accordingly, an improved learning appliance would be desirable.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.